Shorewood chiropractor offers a plethora of integrative medicine

SHOREWOOD – Dr. Manuel Duarte is no ordinary chiropractor.

He’s earned several diplomas and degrees, as well as six certifications. He’s an international speaker to other health professionals. He’s conducted research and written for professional journals.

“From a health professional’s point of view, his accomplishments are unrivaled [and] not just in the area,” said Jason Duarte, Dr. Manuel Duarte’s son and intern at his father’s clinic. “He’s one of the most accomplished chiropractors in the world.”

Manuel Duarte’s clinic, Body Fitness Physical Medicine in Shorewood, offers a variety of integrative medicine, both Western and Eastern, as he believes it “takes a team to manage a person’s health today.

“You need the medical doctor, you need the chiropractor, you need the acupuncture, you need the naturopathy,” he said, “and they need to all work together.”

In January, after Manuel Duarte’s research on back pain and orthotics was published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, he received a $400,000 grant from Foot Levelers to conduct a three-year study on the topic.

“We’re in the process now of gathering patients and randomizing them,” he said.

In 2013, Manuel earned his master’s in acupuncture from the National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, graduating summa cum laude and serving as valedictorian, Jason Duarte said.

With his partner Dr. Sonia Joubert, Manuel Duarte treats sports injuries, back problems, headaches, chronic pain, sinus issues, dysmenorrhea, depression, fibromyalgia and insomnia.

His tools include chiropractic services, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, Graston technique, kinesio-taping, cupping, physiotherapy, laser, orthotic shoe fitting, moxa burning and nutrition counseling.

Jason Duarte explained some of the unfamiliar treatments. The Graston technique uses smooth and blunt metal pieces to detect and treat scar tissue. Kinesio-taping relieves joint pain. Cupping creates a suction on muscles (“Like a reverse massage,” he said) to mobilize blood flow and promote healing.

Moxa burning uses heated dried mugwart (“It looks like a giant cigar,” he said.) to increase blood flow.

“You can use it with or without acupuncture,” Jason Duarte said.

Yet, Manuel Duarte doesn’t rest on his accomplishments. He trains others to imitate them.

As professor and chairman of Clinical Practices at National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, a school that embraces integrative medicine, bringing together professionals from a broad range of medical specialties, he helps train students to think holistically.

He also attends conferences in Israel, South Africa, Turkey, South Korea, Canada and the Netherlands to share with and learn from his peers, as approach to patient care is different in other countries, he said.

His special area of interest – and the subject for which he is most requested – is stabilization programs for chronic low back pain, but Manuel Duarte is always stimulated when interacting with his international peers, and he rarely leaves a seminar without meaty discussions of cases following his lectures, as well as requests for photos and autographs, he said.

“I’ll have six hours of long lectures for two days in a row,” he said, “and even when you’re done, you’re not through.”

Yet, as a boy, Manuel Duarte’s passion was sports (baseball, basketball, football, hockey) not health sciences – although he did practice yoga during his teen years. His post-college career was a high school gym teacher, he said.

A growing interest in struggling kids led him to earn a graduate degree in developmental disabilities and a job at Willowbrook State School, a Staten Island state-supported institution for children with developmental disabilities helping to open up group homes, Manuel said.

Around this time, Manuel Duarte felt ready for some hands-on work and an opportunity to be his own boss. He recalled how a chiropractor had healed him from a football injury and decided he liked the idea of “drugless therapies” and “putting the body in an optimal place to heal itself.”

Manuel Duarte feels people rely too heavily on drugs and procedures and less on preventative practices. The growing epidemic of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is one result, he said, of people seeking “a quick fix” instead of taking “responsibility for their own health.”

“Western medicine definitely has its place,” he said. “Thank God for surgery and medicines that are there when you need them. Unfortunately, people run to them when they don’t need them.”

Know more

According to www.nuhs.edu, Dr. Manuel Duarte is a 19-year, full-time faculty member of National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, as well as its chair of clinical practice and chief clinician.

The site also said Manuel earned his Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from Brooklyn College and his Master of Science degree in developmental disabilities from Long Island University. He received his doctor of chiropractic degree from National University of Health Sciences.

At the university, the site also said Manuel has served on numerous committees and taught classes in the “Chiropractic Certification Program of Sports, the Sports Diplomat Program, the Orthopedic Diplomat Program, low back stabilization programs and acupuncture certification.” Duarte has also spoken at state conventions.

The Dr. Manuel A. Duarte Facebook page listed said Manuel is also certified areas:

• strength and conditioning specialist

• chiropractic sports physician

• acupuncturist

• cox flexion distraction technique

• SpiderTech instructor

• Graston technique

The Facebook page said Manuel is an instructor with the American Health Association and is eligible for certification in kinesio-taping. He is also a diplomate of the American Board of Chiropractic Orthopedists and the American Board of Chiropractic Sports Physicians.